Jane was, unusually for her, feeling quite unsure about herself as she walked through the golden twilight toward Elysium. Normally the beauty of the fading mellow daylight would have made her rapturous with its beauty, but her fear over the upcoming interview clouded all her thoughts and emotions. This was even worse than when she'd had to apologise to Colby … at least then she'd known what she'd done wrong. Oh, she knew that she had done wrong to meddle in this case of Mr. Kendall and Mrs. Kane, but the specifics of why she had hurt them so were still a mystery. Still, she reminded herself sternly, it was none of her business; all she was going to do was tell Mrs. Kane she was very sorry for causing her pain, deposit a plate of cookies freshly baked that morning, and leave the rest up to her.
Jane knew she would eventually have to apologise to Mr. Kendall as well, but even her stubbornly brave spirit quailed at that. He had been so very angry! If he was still that angry with her, if he still believed she had done … whatever it was … on purpose to humiliate him … well, Jane supposed he wouldn't physically injure her, but she shuddered to think of what he would say.
All too soon, the walk ended, and Jane found herself standing at Mrs. Kane's front door, a plate of cookies in one hand, the other poised to knock. She didn't even remember coming up the walkway, but here she was, and there was no turning back now. She drew a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and knocked.
Mrs. Kane answered so quickly that Jane suspected her of hovering just inside the door. She looked the same as always, calm and composed, even with a little smile on her face.
"Jane," she said, relief evident in her voice. She surprised the girl by pulling her into a quick hug. "I'm so glad you came. I've been meaning to come see you for the last two days, but I'm such a rotten coward, I couldn't quite bring myself to."
Jane, having expected a far frostier reception, was so stunned she forgot her manners and said nothing at all.
"Come in," Mrs. Kane continued, shutting the door firmly behind her and taking her sweater. "Now," turning very serious, "Jane, can you ever forgive me for spoiling your birthday party like that? It was very rude of me to rush out, and I don't expect you to be able to understand … but I'm terribly, terribly sorry."
Surprise and relief combined gave Jane back her voice. "Why, I came here to apologise to you!" she exclaimed.
"You?" Mrs. Kane asked, her eyebrows rising a trifle. "Why do you need to be sorry?"
"Why, because I brought you and Mr. Kendall together like that and caused you both such pain. Mrs. Kane, you must believe me, I had no idea you knew each other … I never would have done anything to hurt you deliberately."
"Gracious child, I know that!" Mrs. Kane said. "I never for a moment blamed you. If anything, it was my fault … I knew you were acquainted with Edward, and I should have expected you to invite him. I simply didn't think … he hates society so, I never dreamed he would ever come out of his hermitage." She twisted her mouth ruefully.
"He didn't want to," Jane admitted. "I had to beg. But, Mrs. Kane, you don't know the worst of it …" determined to make a clean breast of things … "I invited both of you specifically … I planned the entire birthday party around it … I wanted to play matchmaker, and this was the result." She hung her head.
To her everlasting shock, Mrs. Kane laughed. "Oh, my poor Jane. And poor Edward," she added as an afterthought. "Jane," she continued firmly. "I think it's time you heard the truth behind Edward's and my past. I haven't wanted to tell it to you before because … well, it is still rather painful, and to be perfectly honest, I don't exactly shine as a beacon of light in it." She took the cookies from Jane's hand. "Come into the kitchen, I'll pour us some tea, and we can have a snack while I tell you all about it."
"I know something about Mr. Kendall's past," Jane told her, trailing along behind her toward the kitchen. "Eden told me that he was engaged to be married, and his fiancée ran off with his best friend, and he went mad and killed them both the morning after they got married, and then disappeared until he moved to Lakeside Gardens a few years ago. Not," she added honestly, "that I believe all that, but that's what Eden says."
Mrs. Kane sighed as she poured the hot water into the teapot. "How things get distorted …" she murmured.
Nothing more was said until both were sitting at the big table with their teacups and cookies in front of them. Mrs. Kane picked up a cookie, regarded it thoughtfully, and began crumbling it to pieces as she spoke.
"Here is the truth of the matter, Jane Stuart, and you may believe it to be so, because not only was I there, I was one of the participants, and not a day goes by that I don't regret my actions. More people than Edward were hurt by what I did.
"I met Edward when I was sixteen, at a party hosted by my aunt. It was my 'coming-out' party, and although he was a good five years older than I, I fell in love with him at once." She smiled shyly. "It took him a bit longer, but by the time I was seventeen, we were engaged to be married. My parents didn't approve … Edward was not a famous author at that point, and his social standing was a good bit lower than ours, but I didn't care. We were so happy." Her voice trailed off, and she absently brushed the cookie crumbs from her fingers.
"What happened?" Jane asked breathlessly.
Mrs. Kane's mouth twisted bitterly. "I was a fool. My parents wanted us to wait until I was at least twenty-one before we married. Edward didn't want to wait that long, and insisted we get married right away. We fought … oh, how we fought over it. I told him I was already defying them enough by marrying him, I wasn't going to make things any worse. His pride was hurt by the thought that they didn't think him good enough for me …"
Like Dad and Mother, Jane thought sympathetically.
… "and we had a bitter argument. You may not believe to look at me now, Jane … eighteen years has taught me patience … but I had a ferocious temper when I was a girl. Well, I told Edward to go away until he could be civil, and he … for which I could not forgive him … took me at my word.
"Two days later, Edward's closest friend came to see me, to plead with me to relent and forgive Edward. I told him I never could, he told me he knew how frustrating Edward could be, but for the sake of my future happiness to give in, I told him it was impossible … Michael came to see me every day after that, to encourage me to make up with Edward. My parents encouraged his visits … he was from a very wealthy family, and they thought his attentions might lead me to forget Edward … and we grew close. Toward the end, when he would visit, we wouldn't talk about Edward at all, but about us. We found we had a great deal in common, and I began to wonder what I had even seen in Edward in the first place."
"Did you marry him?" Jane asked.
Mrs. Kane laughed ruefully. "Don't rush the story, Jane. Well, this went on for months, and then the War began. Edward, of course, joined up at once. He came to see me just before he shipped out, the first time I'd seen him since our fight. He asked me to marry him right then, no fuss or waiting, so that he would have something to come home to. And I … in my pride, I refused. I wanted a big wedding, I told him, so that nobody could say I was ashamed of my husband. If we married in that much haste, people would be sure to think that something was wrong. When he came home, I said, I would marry him." She shook her head. "I can still hear the patronizing tone I used with him … Lord, what a beast I was! Edward told me that if he came home, he certainly would marry me, and what anybody else said be … darned!" Mrs. Kane hesitated over that last word, leading Jane to suspect that perhaps Mr. Kendall had used slightly stronger language.
"So Edward went overseas, and then a month later Michael joined up. He, too, came to me before leaving, and confessed that he had fallen in love with me. He never would have said anything, he told me, but when I sent Edward away, he hoped that we had ended things and he might have a chance. He had even spoken to my parents, asking for their blessing, and they had consented. They said we could get married that very next day, if we wanted, so that we would have some time together as husband and wife before he left."
"And so you did?"
"And so I did. What I had refused to do with Edward a mere month before, I did with Michael gladly and with no qualms. I told myself that Edward had never really loved me, that we had only been swept off our feet by the romance of it all, and that Michael and I were far more suited to each other.
"Michael and I were married, and had a week together as husband and wife before he left for the front. There, as you know, he was killed. I left my parents' home and moved in with his mother, a penance for all the pain I'd caused. You see, Jane, not only had I broken Edward's heart, I'd destroyed his friendship with Michael. He felt betrayed by us both, not realising that I had never told Michael I was still promised to him. Michael died before they could reconcile, and so three lives were ruined by my thoughtlessness. I never saw Edward again until I moved here last year. I had no idea he was living here … talk about a coincidence! … and I certainly made sure he never saw me."
"And so you've been living within two blocks of each other, and never met until my party," Jane breathed. "Oh, Mrs. Kane, I am sorry."
"It wasn't your fault, Jane," Mrs. Kane said firmly. "The blame is mine. All of it, for everything," she sighed. "Edward will never forgive me … why should he? … and now I've hurt his friendship with you, as well."
"Nonsense," Jane said strongly. "Mr. Kendall has too much sense to hold a grudge like that for long." She believed it even as she said, and the thought cheered her up immensely as she prepared for her visit to him. "And you know, it might not be too late, after all. He might forgive you, if you asked him."
Mrs. Kane shook her head. "No. Even if he could, I don't deserve it. He hates me now, Jane, and rightly so." She shook her head as though to clear it of memory, and looked down at her plate with an air of surprise. "Dear me, I seem to have destroyed all your delicious cookies."
"Never mind," Jane said, laughing at the plate of crumbs, "I made more."
The afternoon ended on a pleasant note, but as Jane walked home, she couldn't help but ponder Mrs. Kane's tale. It was so tragic, and yet so simple. She was sure that Mr. Kendall could be reconciled to Mrs. Kane, if one just found the right way to bring it about …
She shook her head sternly. "No meddling," she said aloud. Whatever was going to happen between the two former lovers had to be on their own terms. She would not get involved.
Author's Note: So here it is, the true story behind Mr. Kendall and Mrs. Kane. In case anyone is confused as to the timing differences between this story and Meggie of Green Gables (in which Jane made an appearance in the latest chapter), it is currently June 1936 in that story, and May 1935 in this one. So now you know. Please review! I don't like to post new chapters until I get at least two reviews for the previous one; otherwise how can I know if I need to change or explain something?